Waste disposer



C. G. JOA

WASTE DISPOSER Jan. 16, 1968 Filed NOV. 12, 1964 INVENTOR. C027 G. Jo am, my@

ATTQRNEY United States Patent 3,363,847 WASTE DISPOSER Curt G. Joa, Ocean Ridge, Fla. (Box 1121, Boynton Beach, Fla. 33435) Filed Nov. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 410,502 7 Claims. (Cl. 241-81) This invention relates to a waste disposer and particularly to a disposer for paper waste such as paper towels, baby diapers, sanitary napkins, paper cups, etc.

The increasing use of paper products for sanitary pur poses, wrapping material, etc. has created a disposal problem for which no adequate solution has yet been contrived. This problem is particularly acute in public wash rooms and lavatories where used hand towels, paper cups, paper diapers and napkins, etc. accumulate in great quantities in waste baskets and require frequent janitorial services to maintain sanitary and neat conditions. Most of this material cannot be disposed of through the sanitary sewer system unless it is first comminuted, lest the sewer line be plugged. The disposal problem is also acute in supermarkets where incoming goods are packaged in paper containers which must `be removed and disposed of in the course of displaying merchandise for sale. Even a single domestic household now must dispose of over two tons of paper waste per annum. A multi-family dwelling presents proportionately greater disposal problems.

According to the present invention, the paper waste is disintegrated. In one embodiment of the invention, the resultant fibers are simply flushed down the sanitary sewer system for ready disposal without requiring janitorial services in connection therewith, This requires a plumbing connection. Alternatively, the disintegrated paper waste may be compacted for salvage, if desired. In the latter instance, no plumbing connection would be required.

An important feature of tall embodiments of the present invention is provision for separating disintegrable waste material from non-disintegrable waste materials such as tin cans, glass bottles, pieces of metal such as hairpins, ete. All categories of waste are usually commingled by the public. A commercially practical waste disposer should accept all waste, of whatever nature. For this reason the waste disposer of the present invention incorporates a flotation chamber in which lightweight disintegrable material such as paper will oat on the surface of liquid in the chamber, and heavy non-disintegrable material will sink to the bottom of the chamber for periodic removal independently of disposition of the disintegrable material.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, an automatic mechanism is provided which will periodically convey floatable material at the surface of the liquid in the flotation -chamber to the disintegrator. The disintegrator and disposer will be concurrently operated to dispose of disintegrated material.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following disclosure in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective View of a Waste disposer embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross section taken through the disposer of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a transverse vertical cross section taken through the disposer of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross section taken through a modied embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross section taken through another modified embodiment of the invention.

Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. The scope of the invention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

The apparatus of the present invention is desirably contained within an attractive outer casing 8 which can be placed in public lavatories, supermarkets or any other place having a paper waste disposal potential. In the embodiment shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, no plumbing connection is required and the unit may be positioned at any location convenient to an electrical service outlet to power the electric motors and timer within the unit. The embodiments of FIGURES 4 and 5 require plumbing connections.

The cabinet 8 of all embodiments is partitioned off interiorly into a flotation chamber 9 which 4is desirably kept filled with a liquid such as water 110. A deodorizer and disinfectant may be added to the water. Adjacent a lip 11 on wall 12 of the flotation chamber 9 is disposed the picker drum 13 of a paper waste disintegrator 14. Disintegrator 14 is further provided with a picker Wall 15 on which are provided compementary stationary picker pins 16 which cooperate with the pins 19 on drum 13 to shred and defiberize paper waste which is periodically fed to the disintegrator 14. The picker drum 13 is rotated at high speed in the direction of arrow 18. Its pins 19 have slight clearance (less than 1/32 inch) from pins 16, thus to tear the waste into tiny fragments.

The disintegrator 14 further includes downwardly eX- tending discharge hopper 20. In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, hopper 20 terminates in a compactor 21 which may consist of a conically shaped throat 22 within which a compacting screw auger 23 is disposed. Helical flight 31 is of decreasing pitch and diameter from its input end to its discharge end. Paper Ifragments which have been disintegrated by the picker drum 13 are compacted in the compaetor 21 to form slugs 24 of salvage paper waste which can be removed periodically through the cabinet door Z5 for sale to paper mills, etc.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 4, the chute 20 terminates in a connection 26 to the drain 27 of the sanitary sewer system. The disintegrated fragments may be flushed down the chute 20 and into the drain 27 by a water spray eminating from a spray head 28 under pressure from the city water system through a valve 29 which can be controlled by a solenoid operator 30.

Waste material may be deposited in the disposer through a chute 33. Floatable paper waste material 34 will float on the surface of the liquid in the flotation chamber 9, and sinkable material 3S will drop to the bottom of the flotation chamber. In some embodiments of the invention, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, there is a conveyor or sweep paddle 36 pivotally mounted on the cabinet on the rock shaft 37 which is actuated by crank 38 and pitman 41 connected through disk 42 and gear reducer 32 to electric motor 39. Motor 39 will be periodically energized to sweep paddle 36 from its full to broken line position shown in FIGURE 2. In the course of this movement, the paddle 36 will convey or push the floating material 34 laterally across the top of the flotation chamber 9 and into the disintegrator 14.

Picker drum 13 of the disintegrator 14 is also provided with an electric motor 40 which drives the drum 13 through belt 43. Where the compactor 21 is used, it is also provided with an electric motor 44 coupled to the shaft of the auger 23 through gear reducer 52 and chain drive 45.

All electric motors which comprise the power means for the various parts above described are desirably controlled by a conventional electric timer 46 which will concurrently actuate all motors so that as the disintegrable material is swept into the disintegrator, the picker wheel 13 thereof will be actuated. In compactor embodiments,

Ain FIGURE 5 in which the disposer is provided with a loading spout 47 and with a -cylindrical metering vane housing 43 containing three metering vanes 49 arcuately spaced 120 and mounted on an axle 50 powered by motor 51 connected to a sprocket 54 on the axle 50 through a pinion 55 and gear reduction drive unit. In this embodiment, motor 51 is controlled by the timer 46. The rest position of the vanes is shown in FIGURE 5 in which one vane blocks the passage to the flotation chamber 9.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 5, a spray nozzle 57 may also -be provided under control of a valve 58 having a solenoid actuator 59 controlled by timer 46. In this embodiment, the materials to be disposed of are merely dropped into the spout 47. The material will accumulate in the space above the blocking vane which spans across the housing 48. Accordingly, paper, etc. that might sink if soaked is kept dry for a period after being deposited in the disposer.

Periodically, under control of timer 46, shaft 50 will be rotated through 120. Blocking vane 49 will sweep floatable material previously admitted to the flotation chamber into the disintegrator 14 and Will deposit the next charge of material in the flotation chamber 9 for separation as aforesaid. The metering device shown in FIGURE 5 positively precludes deposit of non-disintegrable material into disintegrator 14 and deposits all such material in the dotation chamber. The spray nozzle 57 may be actuated concurrently to clean the underside of the vane 49 which has just swept over the flotation chamber 9 and llush any paper into the chamber which might otherwise stick to the vane. The embodiment of FIGURE 5 requires a plumbing connection.

Other non-disintegrable material 35 may be periodically removed by draining chamber 9 through drain cock 62. A water-tight access door 63 may be provided through which the material 35 is physically removed. Water is then restored to the tank 9 through filling spout 64.

In plumbed in embodiments, the paddle 36 or vanes 49 desirably dip into the water in tank 9 to convey some water with the material 34 into the disintegrator and aid in its comminution and us'ning to the sewer 27 through the disintegrator 14.

In portable units, the lower margin of paddle 36 is desirably composed of tines 68 (FIGURE 2) which pick the material 34 out of the water in tank 9 without conveying the water into the disintegrator 14 and compactor 21.

The disposer may be made of any appropriate size, ranging from small sizes for domestic home use to medium size for apartment house use to large size for supermarket use.

I claim:

1. A waste disposer comprising:

a flotation chamber into which waste material is deposited for separation of sinkable material from floatable material,

a lip on the flotation chamber over which floatable material is discharged therefrom,

conveyor means for conveying floatable material in the flotation chamber over said lip,

a picker drum adjacent said lip and onto which the oatable material is fed by the conveyor means,

a picker Wall adjacent the picker drum and with which the picker drum coacts to disintegrate the floatable material,

and means for disposing of disintegrated material.

2. A waste disposer comprising a flotation chamber into which waste material is deposited for separation of sinkable material from oatable material, a disintegrator adjacent said flotation chamber, conveyor means for :conveying floatable material in the flotation chamber to the disintegrator and comprising a paddle and means mounting said paddle to sweep across the surface of liquid in the flotation chamber to move oatable material to the disintegrator, and means for disposing of disintegrated material.

3. The waste disposer of claim 1 in which the means for disposing of the disintegrated material comprises a compactor.

4. The waste disposer of claim 1 in which the lmeans for disposing of the disintegrated material comprises a sewer line connection.

5. A Waste disposer comprising a flotation chamber into which Waste material is deposited for separation of sinkable material from oatable material, a disintegrator adjacent said flotation chamber, conveyor means for conveying floatable material in the otation chamber to the disintegrator, and means for disposing of disintegrated material, said flotation chamber being provided with a charging door, said door having metering vanes which sweep across the surface of liquid in the flotation chamber to move floatable material to the disintegrator.

6. A Waste disposer comprising a flotation chamber into which waste material is deposited for separation of sinka-ble material from oatable material, a disintegrator adjacent said flotation chamber, conveyor means for conveying oatable material in the flotation chamber to the disintegrator, and means for disposing of disintegrated material, and power means for the disintegrator and the conveyor means and a timer for periodically actuating said power means.

7. A waste disposer comprising:

a flotation chamber into which waste mate-rial is deposited for separation of sinkable material from ioatable material,

a disintegrator adjacent said flotation chamber,

a sweep paddle,

means mounting said paddle to sweep over the surface of the liquid in the flotation chamber,

power means for said disintegrator and sweep paddle,

a timer to periodically actuate said power means for concurrent action of the sweep paddle and disintegrator,

and means for disposing of disintegrated material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,422,466 1/1923 Carll 241-81 X 2,092,102 9/1937 Wilson 241-81 X 2,489,454 11/1949 Henno 241-462 2,630,918 3/1953 JanoWs 241-46 X 2,969,927 1/1961 Vaucher 241-81 X WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner.

W. D. BRAY, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A WASTE DISPOSER COMPRISING: A FLOTATION CHAMBER INTO WHICH WASTE MATERIAL IS DEPOSITED FOR SEPARATION OF SINKABLE MATERIAL FROM FLOATABLE MATERIAL, A LIP ON THE FLOTATION CHAMBER OVER WHICH FLOATABLE MATERIAL IS DISCHARGED THEREFROM, CONVEYOR MEANS FOR CONVEYING FLOATABLE MATERIAL IN THE FLOTATION CHAMBER OVER SAID LIP, A PICKER DRUM ADJACENT SAID LIP AND ONTO WHICH THE FLOATABLE MATERIAL IS FED BY THE CONVEYOR MEANS, A PICKER WALL ADJACENT THE PICKER DRUM AND WITH WHICH THE PICKER DRUM COACTS TO DISINTEGRATE THE FLOATABLE MATERIAL, AND MEANS FOR DISPOSING OF DISINTEGRATED MATERIAL. 